Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest
Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary
Debbie recently posted a short video clip of Annie’s bird noises, but we haven’t had much luck capturing this endearing Annie-ism on film for more than a few seconds here and there.
Annie typically makes her bird noises when she’s feeling content and relaxed, usually lying on her back like in this video from this afternoon:
Last night, volunteers, interns, and primate behavior students from Central Washington University got together to make some enrichment for the chimps. Their club is Primate Awareness Network—if you’ve been following the blog for awhile, that might sound a little familiar to you—they’ve hosted talks by CSNW staff during their annual spring speaker series several times.
We are so appreciative that they spent some time putting together boxes for the chimps, with nuts hidden in paper inside. The chimps seemed to enjoy their fun forage!
Annie:
Jamie:
Jody:
Negra:
After Missy went through a couple of boxes, she surveyed the situation to see if anything else was up for grabs:
Caregiver Katelyn walked around Young’s Hill with Jamie and Burrito this afternoon, when her and the chimpanzees stopped to look toward the loud cracking sound made further down the hill. Katelyn soon spotted Missy breaking off a branch of bamboo and running back toward the Greenhouse with it in her mouth. Once inside, she broke off a small piece, put it in her mouth and dropped the rest of the branch on the deck. Then she ran inside to the Front Room area. As she ran inside, her dear friend Annie quickly climbed down from the top platform and snatched the bamboo. She brought it back up to the top of the platform and quickly began munching on the leaves. Missy, in the meantime, came running out from the Front Room area without her bamboo. She was able to grab a few small pieces of the original branch that had fallen off and climbed to the top of the platform to join Annie in feasting on the treat.
The area of Young’s Hill where Missy harvested bamboo.
Annie with the bamboo that Missy brought in from Young’s Hill.
Missy with her pieces of bamboo after she ran back out to the Greenhouse from the Front Rooms.
What is the best way to eat bamboo? With your best friend, of course!
Missy and Negra are good friends, but they are opposites in a lot of ways. Missy is petite and athletic; Negra is large and round. Missy is always on the move; Negra is usually napping under a blanket. Missy is social and outgoing; Negra likes her alone time.
Today after lunch Missy headed outside to Young’s Hill for some sprints (Jamie in the background):
and some time with best friend Annie:
At the same time, Negra took advantage of the warm, quiet playroom for an afternoon siesta:
It brings us so much joy to be able to give these chimps the space and freedom to make their own choices, do what they like, and be who they are.
Missy is chimpanzee-oriented, meaning she often chooses to groom or play chase with her chimpanzee friends over the humans (but we love that!) Every once in awhile she engages in fairly rambunctious chase or tug-o-war and will even quietly groom with caregivers on occasion. Times with Missy are a special treat for all of us! Today was no exception. She and Joel played a pretty fun game of chase. It seemed like Missy turned it into a sort of zumba-like exercise. Be sure to watch all the way to the end!
Burrito has a patented play move that is legitimately impossible to resist – we call it the blanket fling. He most often uses it when he’s trying to initiate play with a caregiver. The closest English translation I can come up with is “Heeeyyyyyy! Let’s get crazy!!” And get crazy we do.
Foxie takes her dolls with her almost everywhere. She holds them during meal times, she plays with them (both on her own and with friends), and she rests with them. She even takes them on brief outings onto Young’s Hill. A lot of times she carries them on her back like a mother chimp would carry their infant around, but sometimes she is able to manage with them in her hand or mouth as she walks. In the last photo, you’ll see she’s rubbing the troll’s belly as they head back into the greenhouse.
Though it can seem endearing how Foxie loves her dolls, it’s also a sad reminder that Foxie was never able to keep a baby of her own.
Foxie was used as a breeder in the lab. When she was just 10 years old, she gave birth to twins, David and Steve. Steve is deceased, but David is currently living at Alamogordo Primate Facility (APF) in New Mexico. Foxie had two other babies, Angie (who now thankfully lives at Save the Chimps in Florida) and Kelsey (who lives at APF like David).
Though we can never make up for all that Foxie has lost, we are so glad that in sanctuary she has found a great deal of happiness and companionship in her dolls.
